Il Pagante were only ever meant to be a spoof act, but after their songs snowballed in popularity they became a legitimate act, albeit one that still happily pokes fun at pop culture. The project started out in 2010 with a fake Facebook profile for one 'Johnny il Pagante' aimed at making fun of youth culture. It was created by students Guglielmo Panzera and Alfredo Tomasi who would craft outlandish escapades for the character.
Despite the parodic nature of the profile, however, 'Johnny' attracted a following that was unaware he was a joke. Panzera and Tomasi decided to build on the page's success, bringing in Giordano Cremona, vocalists Federica Napoli and Roberta Branchini and, a little later, rapper Edoardo Cremona, aka Eddy Veerus. They made a series of spoof music videos starring Johnny and found themselves a runaway success, going on to play live across Italy.
Their style blended trance, house and reggaeton into an overblown and heavily autotuned EDM style. In 2014 they signed to Warner Music, releasing the single 'Faccio After' the same year and beginning a string of successful releases. In 2016 'Entro in Pass', the group's debut album, was released and peaked at number three in the Italian Albums Chart. In 2018 they followed up with 'Paninaro 2.0', reaching 23 in the Italian Albums Chart and number two on the dance chart.
